Condemned
by TheBrokenBottle
Summary: After a mission has gone disastrously wrong, Jaune faces life in prison, responsible for this mission's tragic consequences and the disappearance of Ruby Rose. Now in court, he has to battle for his freedom. But is there more than meets the eye? [First chapter prologue: Convicted]
1. Prologue Convicted

A deadly, almost painful silence hung in the courtroom, like a thick cloud of smoke suffocating everyone in close proximity. Dozens of eyes were piercing through the accused, who had sunk back in his chair uncomfortably, fear strikingly present all over his face. His lawyer was sitting next to him, browsing through a stack of papers, his glasses resting on the tip of his nose. The pressure felt smothering on the blonde's back, he wanted this to be over with, to wake up from his horrific nightmare, finding himself back safely in his dorm along with his teammates. Sadly, it wasn't that simple.

Everyone was waiting for the arrival of the judge, to seal Jaune Arc's fate once and for all. A fate that would most likely include a life of rotting away behind prison bars.

 _Their mission had gone wrong. So terribly wrong._

Aside from a lawyer, Jaune was accompanied by a pair of Atlas officers standing at his table. So this was what being a criminal felt like? Every movement you make constantly followed by the eyes of authorities.

Muffled cries resounded from the crowd, especially from a particular fiery blonde. Nearly sitting in the front row was Yang, mourning in her hands with choked sobs. Blake had taken a seat next to her, desperately trying to comfort the inconsolable girl. Hollow black circles had formed underneath the faunus' eyes, a clear sign of lamentation. She obviously hadn't slept in days. But neither did he.

Next to the cat-faunus, there was Weiss, barely recognisable without her makeup and enchanting blue eyes. They looked hollow, dead inside, forcefully holding back a wave of emotions. She was wearing a plain black dress. Black, the color of grief. This appearance of Weiss felt so strange, so contradictory to how Jaune would normally watch the white-haired heiress dart across Beacon Academy, looking so bright and pure in her light-blue combat dress.

They all looked extremely exhausted, yet so incredibly restless.

In another row, there were his teammates, or presumably his former teammates. Each one of them stared back at the blonde with estranged eyes, treating him no different from a complete stranger. He had become a disappointment to them, and he wasn't even near ready to describe how much it hurt him. Aiming an apologetic gaze towards Pyrrha, it wasn't met, as she stared towards the ground beneath her, afraid to meet his eyes.

The ground that felt as if it was pulled away beneath him.

Back to the days when there was nothing to worry about, except making it to their next class on time. The blonde boy knew very well those days wouldn't come back. Not after what has happened.

 _It was his fault._

Whispers from the crowd infiltrated Jaune's ears. Prejudices crushed the little amount of confidence he had left in his soul. He knew that in this room, disgust and anger were directed towards him, skewering him like arrows to the bones.

He felt a chill running down his spine as he looked back, only to stare right into the brilliant crimson eyes of Qrow Branwen. His orbs were shooting flames back at him. If looks could kill, Jaune would have been buried by now. Taiyang Xiao Long sat next to him, infuriated, devastated eyes stinging right through the blonde. He couldn't imagine the loss this man had experienced. For the second time in his life as well.

 _He was a monster._

With a heavy swallow, Jaune felt the color escape from his cheeks as he turned on his seat to face forward again, his shoulders shaking heavily in the process.

Deep in the back of his mind he wished for it, to be levelled with the ground and just disappear. To escape this wretched earth, away from his overwhelming guilt.

The room fell quiet as a heavy door opened, and a man clad in long, black robes stepped inside. Everyone raised from their benches, public prosecutors and court officer included, watching as the man sat down behind at his desk, at the top of the judge's table. Raising his hand, the rest of the court sat down, waiting for the trial to begin.

Once again a heavy silence fell over the room like a blanket. This was it, the moment of truth. The moment that some anticipated, and some dreadfully feared. For Jaune, it was definitely the latter of the two. Slowly, the world seemed to crumble beneath his attention as Jaune solely focussed all of his attention on the judge, who was about to speak.

Clearing his throat, the judge looked up from his sheets, gazing down at Jaune as he spoke, the courtroom, along with him on the edge of their seats.

"Mr Arc, you have hereby been charged with the disappearance of Miss Ruby Rose."


	2. Downfall

_"RUBY WATCH OUT!" Yang cried out desperately, lunging forward in the direction of her younger sister, but a vicious, snarling Beowulf held her back, not giving her a chance to aid Ruby in her fight._

 _The younger girl was currently facing down a pair of Deathstalkers, their rapid attacks forcing her back. They seemed to be trying to flank her, simultaneously striking their fangs and slashing their claws at the young huntress, who was barely managing to fend off the assault. Against such a relentless attack her form and poise had gone out of the window and she narrowly avoided what would have been a fatal swipe to the neck, instead slipping and sliding on the slick wet ground. With a grimace she aimed Crescent Rose at the nearest Deathstalker and fired, her bullet causing a roar of pain as it struck a critical spot, aggravating her foe even more as its charges became more frequent and uncontrollable._

 _'This is bad, this is very bad.' Ruby thought, hurriedly bringing up her weapon to block a frenzied attack. The force of the blow sent pain rippling through her arms and she skidded backwards a few feet, barely managing to stay upright._

 _Yang and Ruby had been sent on an extermination mission deep in the vast mountain ranges near Vale. Deep in the heart of a valley that stretched for miles the two of them had trekked across towering plateaus and through enveloping forests to find the other team they were to work with as part of yet another of Ozpins's trials. Weiss and Blake had been assigned a different mission._

 _The task set to the two sisters was to meet another one of Beacon's teams of hunters and huntresses in training, find a suspected nest of Grimm and wipe them out. Luckily and much to their surprise, the girls were matched with team JNPR - Jaune and Pyrrha, more specifically._

 _Unfortunately their extermination mission had taken a turn for the worse. The small nest of Grimm had been easy to isolate and destroy, but they'd barely had time to catch their breath when dozens and dozens of Grimm burst through the trees and swarmed around the four of them. Exhausted and unprepared they desperately fought back, the ground now slick with blood and bile, but the waves of enemies showed no signs of relenting and their ammunition was running dangerously low. If they didn't find a way out soon they'd be quickly overrun._

 _Shortly after the start of the fight, Pyrrha had lured a large number of Grimm away from the rest of them, dividing the enemy in an attempt to aid her allies._

 _Yang was surrounded by a horde of snarling Beowulfs, landing crushing blow after crushing blow on their skulls as their eyes faded and they evaporated into thin air, one at a time. Sometimes two with a single blow. But their pack tactics had begun to wear her down and she was losing blood fast from several deep wounds. And still they kept coming, moving to encircle her and strike when her back was turned._

 _Jaune was swinging his sword at a monstrously large Ursa, trying his best to block its strikes with his shield and slicing at its torso whenever he had an opening. Already the Ursa's movement was slowing and its attacks were more and more erratic. Of all of the hunters fighting for their lives it seemed Jaune was the only one prevailing against his opponent._

 _"Hold on!" He exclaimed with a grunt, blocking another Ursa attack._

 _Her foes had forced Ruby to stagger backwards away from Yang and Jaune, isolating her ready for the kill. She was nearing the edge of a cliff overlooking more sprawling forests and she felt herself being forced to back up further and further towards the edge with each savage attack from the Deathclaws. Ruby looked behind her for a split second, gazing down the jagged precipice and gasping at the danger she had found herself in, before steeling herself, regaining her focus and glaring at her enemy. She had to turn this around now or she'd be sent tumbling over the edge._

 _"Hyaa!" Pointing Crescent Rose backwards Ruby fired a shot and sent herself flying towards her enemy, raising her weapon above her head, ready to swing it at the nearest Deathclaw._

 _Her attack barely missed, the scythe blade splintering shards of bone from the protrusions on the Deathclaw's shoulder. In retaliation it sliced deep into her gut with its claws, shattering her aura and digging into the soft flesh below, puncturing her organs. Ruby screamed in pain and Crescent Rose fell from her grasp, and she desperately staggered backwards, clutching her arm over the vicious wound that was leaking blood all over the cliff edge._

 _Sensing their prey was weak, the Deathclaws moved in for the kill. The scent of blood was intoxicating to them and one of them brought its claws swinging towards the wounded huntress._

 _"Stop!" Jaune shouted, throwing himself desperately between Ruby and the Grimm. His shield caught the blow but the force of the impact caused an ear-splitting sound to reverberate through the air and sent Jaune flying backwards, knocking into the injured Ruby and causing them both to stagger over the edge of the cliff screaming, their weapons left behind at the top._

 _Yang's eyes widened and she felt tears burning in the back of her eyes as she sighed._

 _God let them be okay._

* * *

The trial had begun, and with each passing second Jaune felt the breath being sucked from his body.

The prosecution had called upon their first witness, the last person to have seen him and Ruby before they were sent tumbling down the cliff; Yang Xiao Long. Nearly a week had passed since the tragedy that day but he still was not able to look the fiery blonde in her eyes, swallowing away a thick lump whenever he thought about the unbearable grief she had to be in right now.

No matter how many times he could tell her he was innocent, and that it was an accident, she wouldn't believe his words. No one did.

All the wounded and exhausted Yang saw after fighting through hordes and hordes of Grimm was a crying, grieving Pyrrha staring at the bloodied and battered form of Jaune, embraced by a very familiar shredded red cloak.

Covered in blood, that wasn't his own.

* * *

 **Edit:**

 **Some of you might think; Ruby died after the fall, or the strike she got by Grimm. But it isn't like that, and there will be a continuation as to what happened when Jaune and Ruby reach the bottom of the cliff.**

 **Don't get misunderstood; this isn't the end, or the conclusion, but only the beginning of this mystery.**


End file.
